Indicting China's Hackers

Criminal charges against five PLA members won't stop cyber-spying.

Updated May 20, 2014 9:11 p.m. ET

The Justice Department's indictment on Monday of five members of the Chinese military for cybercrimes against America is useful as a way to educate the public about the growing espionage threat. The question is whether this is merely another of those foreign-policy gestures the Obama Administration specializes in to make it appear tougher than its policy really is.

The vast extent of China's cyber spying against government and private U.S. targets is well known in the government, so the power of this case is its public...